TEHRAN – On Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Danish Ambassador Klaus Jan Nielson to protest at the caricatures in a Danish newspaper deemed insulting to Islam’s prophet.

The publication of the offensive cartoons in September last year by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten sparked a wave of denunciation and boycotts of Danish products across the Islamic world.

A Foreign Ministry official underlined the need to respect religious values and sanctities and called on the Danish newspaper and government to apologize to the world’s Muslims.

The Danish ambassador expressed regret over the newspaper’s action and said that on Tuesday the editor in chief of Jyllands-Posten officially apologized to the world’s Muslims for the insulting cartoons.

The Danish Parliament, government, and people are opposed to any kind of offence against religions and believe that religions should be respected, Nielson added.